Understanding the Difference
Windows has two separate but interrelated power management layers. Confusing them is easy — here is a precise breakdown.
Power Plan
Legacy · Granular · Always active
- Introduced in Windows Vista
- Managed via Control Panel → Power Options or
powercfg.exe - A complete collection of hundreds of hardware & OS settings: CPU throttle, disk spindown, display timeout, USB suspend, PCIe link power, battery thresholds, and more
- Every setting has independent AC (plugged-in) and DC (battery) values
- Identified by a GUID, stored in the registry under
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings - Always active — exactly one plan is the active scheme at any time
- Governs display timeout, disk spindown, sleep/hibernate, and all device power states regardless of Power Mode
vs
Power Mode
Modern · Simplified · Overlay
- Introduced in Windows 10 1709; surfaced prominently in Windows 11
- Accessed via Settings → System → Power & Battery
- A lightweight overlay scheme — it only overrides CPU/PPM settings and Power Throttling; it does not touch display timeouts, disk timeouts, or device suspend settings
- Overlay values are stored as
ActiveOverlayAcPowerScheme/ActiveOverlayDcPowerSchemein the registry - Only available when the Balanced base plan is active. Selecting High Performance, Power Saver, or Ultimate Performance hides or disables the Power Mode selector
- Think of it as a performance preference hint layered on top of Balanced
The key rule: The active Power Plan always governs all legacy settings (display, disk, sleep, battery, devices). The active Power Mode overlay then adjusts only the CPU performance policy on top of the Balanced plan. They coexist — they don't replace each other.
Stock Windows Power Plans
Windows ships with four built-in power plans. Their GUIDs are stable across all Windows 10 and 11 installations.
Balanced
DefaultThe out-of-box default plan for consumer devices. Automatically scales CPU frequency and device power states based on demand — full performance when needed, reduced power during idle. The Power Mode overlay is only available when this plan is active.
High Performance
Built-inMaximizes system performance at the cost of energy. Reduces or eliminates CPU idle state transitions; keeps the processor at or near maximum clock speed; maximizes display brightness. Significantly shorter battery life on laptops.
Power Saver
Built-inExtends battery life by reducing performance and display brightness. More aggressively spins down disks, throttles the processor, and shortens sleep timeouts. Discouraged for desktop use; intended for battery-critical situations on laptops.
Ultimate Performance
Hidden by defaultBuilds on High Performance by eliminating micro-latencies from fine-grained power management. The CPU stays at maximum frequency at all times; storage and USB devices are never allowed to enter low-power states; hardware power-state polling is disabled. Designed for professional real-time workloads.
Enable via PowerShell or CMD:
powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
Windows Power Modes
Power Modes are overlay schemes that ride on top of the Balanced power plan. They only adjust CPU/PPM settings and Power Throttling behavior — not display timeouts, disk policies, or device suspend. They require the Balanced plan to be active.
Best Power Efficiency
Windows 11
Windows 10: Better Battery
Favors battery life. PPM settings are tuned toward efficiency. Background apps are more aggressively power-throttled. Suitable for maximum battery runtime when performance is not critical.
Balanced
Windows 11
Windows 10: Better Performance
The Windows out-of-box default overlay. Slightly favors performance over battery. Foreground apps get full responsiveness; background app resources are limited. Power throttling is active but less aggressive than Best Power Efficiency.
Best Performance
Windows 11
Windows 10: Best Performance
Maximizes responsiveness. Power throttling is entirely disabled — all applications (including background) run at full CPU capability. OEMs typically configure the most aggressive PPM parameters here (EPP = 0, minimum performance = 100%).
Battery Saver
Windows 11 (separate toggle)
Windows 10 (slider option)
The most aggressive power-saving state. Restricts background app activity, Windows Update downloads, and Mail sync. Reduces display brightness by 30%. CPU performance is heavily reduced. In Windows 11 this is a toggle separate from the Power Mode dropdown, not a selectable mode in the slider.
Architecture note: Power Mode overlays are stored as
ActiveOverlayAcPowerScheme (AC) and ActiveOverlayDcPowerScheme (DC) in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\User\PowerSchemes. They only function with the Balanced base plan active.
Power Plan Attributes
Power plan settings are organized into subgroups. Every setting has an AC (plugged-in) and DC (battery) value, configurable via
powercfg /setacvalueindex and powercfg /setdcvalueindex.
Top-Level Settings
fea3413e-7e05-4911-9a71-700331f1c294
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Require a password on wakeup | CONSOLELOCK | 0e796bdb-100d-47d6-a2d5-f7d2daa51f51 | Whether a password is required when waking from sleep |
| Power plan personality | PERSONALITY | 245d8541-3943-4422-b025-13a784f679b7 | The plan's personality GUID (maps to scheme type: balanced, high performance, power saver) |
| Device idle policy | DEVICEIDLE | 4faab71a-92e5-4726-b531-224559672d19 | Whether devices are allowed to enter idle state when no tasks are running |
| Disconnected Standby Mode | DISCONNECTEDSTANDBYMODE | 68afb2d9-ee95-47a8-8f50-4115088073b1 | Behavior when disconnected in Connected Standby |
| Networking connectivity in Standby | CONNECTIVITYINSTANDBY | f15576e8-98b7-4186-b944-eafa664402d9 | Whether network connectivity is maintained during standby |
Hard Disk
0012ee47-9041-4b5d-9b77-535fba8b1442
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn off hard disk after | DISKIDLE | 6738e2c4-e8a5-4a42-b16a-e040e769756e | Idle time in seconds before the hard disk is powered off |
| Maximum power level | DISKMAXPOWER | 51dea550-bb38-4bc4-991b-eacf37be5ec8 | Maximum power level for SATA drive link power management |
| Hard disk burst ignore time | DISKBURSTIGNORE | 80e3c60e-bb94-4ad8-bbe0-0d3195efc663 | Duration of disk burst activity to ignore before spindown |
| AHCI Link Power Management | — | 0b2d69d7-a2a1-449c-9680-f91c70521c60 | AHCI (SATA) link power management mode (Active, HIPM, DIPM, HIPM+DIPM, Lowest) |
| AHCI Link Power Management — Adaptive | — | dab60367-53fe-4fbc-825e-521d069d2456 | Adaptive timeout in ms for AHCI link power state transitions |
| Primary NVMe Idle Timeout | NVMEPRIMARYIDLETIMEOUT | — | Timeout for primary NVMe drive idle transition |
| Secondary NVMe Idle Timeout | — | d3d55efd-c1ff-424e-9dc3-441be7833010 | Timeout for secondary NVMe drive idle transition |
| NVMe NOPPME | DISKNVMENOPPME | — | NVMe No Power Management during Partial/Slumber states |
| Primary NVMe Power State Transition Latency | — | fc95af4d-40e7-4b6d-835a-56d131dbc80e | Latency tolerance for primary NVMe power state transitions |
| Secondary NVMe Power State Transition Latency | — | dbc9e238-6de9-49e3-92cd-8c2b4946b472 | Latency tolerance for secondary NVMe power state transitions |
Desktop Background
0d7dbae2-4294-402a-ba8e-26777e8488cd
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slide show | — | 309dce9b-bef4-4119-9921-a851fb12f0f4 | Whether the desktop slideshow is paused to save power |
Wireless Adapter
19cbb8fa-5279-450e-9fac-8a3d5fedd0c1
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Saving Mode | — | 12bbebe6-58d6-4636-95bb-3217ef867c1a | Wireless adapter power-saving level: Maximum Performance, Low, Medium, Maximum Saving |
Sleep
238c9fa8-0aad-41ed-83f4-97be242c8f20
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep after | STANDBYIDLE | 29f6c1db-86da-48c5-9fdb-f2b67b1f44da | Idle time in seconds before the system enters sleep |
| System unattended sleep timeout | UNATTENDSLEEP | 7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0 | Seconds the system waits before sleeping when unattended (no active session) |
| Allow hybrid sleep | HYBRIDSLEEP | 94ac6d29-73ce-41a6-809f-6363ba21b47e | Whether hybrid sleep (suspend + hibernate simultaneously) is allowed |
| Hibernate after | HIBERNATEIDLE | 9d7815a6-7ee4-497e-8888-515a05f02364 | Time in seconds after sleep before the system hibernates |
| Allow wake timers | RTCWAKE | bd3b718a-0680-4d9d-8ab2-e1d2b4ac806d | Whether scheduled wake timers can wake the system from sleep |
| Allow Away Mode Policy | AWAYMODE | 25dfa149-5dd1-4736-b5ab-e8a37b5b8187 | Whether Away Mode (media PC always-on appearance) is allowed |
| Allow system required policy | SYSTEMREQUIRED | a4b195f5-8225-47d8-8012-9d41369786e2 | Whether applications can prevent the system from sleeping via power requests |
| Allow Standby States | ALLOWSTANDBY | abfc2519-3608-4c2a-94ea-171b0ed546ab | Which standby states (S1–S4) are allowed |
| Allow sleep with remote opens | REMOTEFILESLEEP | d4c1d4c8-d5cc-43d3-b83e-fc51215cb04d | Whether the system can sleep when remote files are open |
| Legacy RTC mitigations | LEGACYRTCMITIGATION | 1a34bdc3-7e6b-442e-a9d0-64b6ef378e84 | Whether legacy RTC-based wake mitigations are applied |
USB Settings
2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| USB selective suspend | — | 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 | Whether USB selective suspend (per-port device sleep) is enabled |
| USB 3 Link Power Management | — | d4e98f31-5ffe-4ce1-be31-1b38b384c009 | Link power management for USB 3.x ports |
| Hub Selective Suspend Timeout | — | 0853a681-27c8-4100-a2fd-82013e970683 | Timeout in ms before USB hubs enter selective suspend |
| Setting IOC on all TDs | — | 498c044a-201b-4631-a522-5c744ed4e678 | Whether Interrupt on Completion is set on all USB transfer descriptors |
Idle Resiliency
2e601130-5351-4d9d-8e04-252966bad054
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Execution Required power request timeout | EXECTIME | 3166bc41-7e98-4e03-b34e-ec0f5f2b218e | Timeout for execution-required power requests before they are denied |
| IO coalescing timeout | COALTIME | c36f0eb4-2988-4a70-8eee-0884fc2c2433 | Timeout for coalescing I/O operations to allow deeper idle states |
| Processor Idle Resiliency Timer Resolution | PROCIR | c42b79aa-aa3a-484b-a98f-2cf32aa90a28 | Timer resolution used during processor idle resiliency |
| Deep Sleep Enabled/Disabled | DEEPSLEEP | d502f7ee-1dc7-4efd-a55d-f04b6f5c0545 | Whether deep sleep (S0ix / Modern Standby) is allowed |
Power Buttons & Lid
4f971e89-eebd-4455-a8de-9e59040e7347
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lid close action | LIDACTION | 5ca83367-6e45-459f-a27b-476b1d01c936 | Action when laptop lid is closed: Do Nothing, Sleep, Hibernate, Shut Down |
| Power button action | PBUTTONACTION | 7648efa3-dd9c-4e3e-b566-50f929386280 | Action when the power button is pressed |
| Sleep button action | SBUTTONACTION | 96996bc0-ad50-47ec-923b-6f41874dd9eb | Action when the sleep button is pressed |
| Lid open action | LIDOPENWAKE | 99ff10e7-23b1-4c07-a9d1-5c3206d741b4 | Action when laptop lid is opened: Do Nothing, Turn on Display |
| Enable forced button/lid shutdown | SHUTDOWN | 833a6b62-dfa4-46d1-82f8-e09e34d029d6 | Whether forced shutdown via a long button/lid hold is enabled |
| Start menu power button | UIBUTTON_ACTION | a7066653-8d6c-40a8-910e-a1f54b84c7e5 | Action of the Start menu power button (Sleep, Hibernate, Shut Down) |
PCI Express
501a4d13-42af-4429-9fd1-a8218c268e20
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link State Power Management (ASPM) | ASPM | ee12f906-d277-404b-b6da-e5fa1a576df5 | ASPM aggressiveness for PCIe links: Off, Moderate (L0s), Maximum (L0s + L1) |
Processor Power Management (PPM)
54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00
The largest subgroup. Settings apply to performance-class (P-core / Class 0) processors;
settings with a 1 suffix (e.g., PROCTHROTTLEMIN1) apply to
efficiency-class (E-core / Class 1) processors on hybrid CPUs.
Frequency / P-States
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum processor state | PROCTHROTTLEMIN | 893dee8e-2bef-41e0-89c6-b55d0929964c | Minimum CPU performance state as a percentage of maximum frequency (0–100%) |
| Minimum processor state (E-core) | PROCTHROTTLEMIN1 | 893dee8e-2bef-41e0-89c6-b55d0929964d | Minimum P-state for efficiency cores on hybrid CPUs |
| Maximum processor state | PROCTHROTTLEMAX | bc5038f7-23e0-4960-96da-33abaf5935ec | Maximum CPU performance state as a percentage of maximum frequency (0–100%) |
| Maximum processor state (E-core) | PROCTHROTTLEMAX1 | bc5038f7-23e0-4960-96da-33abaf5935ed | Maximum P-state for efficiency cores on hybrid CPUs |
| Processor performance maximum frequency | PROCFREQMAX | 75b0ae3f-bce0-45a7-8c89-c9611c25e100 | Maximum processor frequency in MHz; 0 = no limit |
| Processor performance maximum frequency (E-core) | PROCFREQMAX1 | 75b0ae3f-bce0-45a7-8c89-c9611c25e101 | Maximum frequency for efficiency cores in MHz |
Boost / Turbo
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor performance boost mode | PERFBOOSTMODE | be337238-0d82-4146-a960-4f3749d470c7 | 0=Disabled, 1=Enabled, 2=Aggressive, 3=Efficient Enabled, 4=Efficient Aggressive, 5=Aggressive at Guaranteed, 6=Efficient Aggressive at Guaranteed | Controls CPU turbo/boost behavior and aggressiveness |
| Processor performance boost policy | PERFBOOSTPOL | 45bcc044-d885-43e2-8605-ee0ec6e96b59 | 0–100% | Aggressiveness of boost frequency decisions |
Performance Scaling (P-State Up/Down)
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance increase threshold | PERFINCTHRESHOLD | 06cadf0e-64ed-448a-8927-ce7bf90eb35d | CPU busy % above which frequency increases (0–100) |
| Performance increase threshold (E-core) | PERFINCTHRESHOLD1 | 06cadf0e-64ed-448a-8927-ce7bf90eb35e | Same for efficiency cores |
| Performance decrease threshold | PERFDECTHRESHOLD | 12a0ab44-fe28-4fa9-b3bd-4b64f44960a6 | CPU busy % below which frequency decreases (0–100) |
| Performance decrease threshold (E-core) | PERFDECTHRESHOLD1 | 12a0ab44-fe28-4fa9-b3bd-4b64f44960a7 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Performance increase policy | PERFINCPOL | 465e1f50-b610-473a-ab58-00d1077dc418 | How quickly frequency increases: 0=Ideal, 1=Single step, 2=Rocket |
| Performance increase policy (E-core) | PERFINCPOL1 | 465e1f50-b610-473a-ab58-00d1077dc419 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Performance decrease policy | PERFDECPOL | 40fbefc7-2e9d-4d25-a185-0cfd8574bac6 | How quickly frequency decreases: 0=Ideal, 1=Single step, 2=Rocket |
| Performance decrease policy (E-core) | PERFDECPOL1 | 40fbefc7-2e9d-4d25-a185-0cfd8574bac7 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Performance increase time | PERFINCTIME | 984cf492-3bed-4488-a8f9-4286c97bf5aa | Time in ms the CPU must be above threshold before scaling up |
| Performance increase time (E-core) | PERFINCTIME1 | 984cf492-3bed-4488-a8f9-4286c97bf5ab | Same for efficiency cores |
| Performance decrease time | PERFDECTIME | d8edeb9b-95cf-4f95-a73c-b061973693c8 | Time in ms the CPU must be below threshold before scaling down |
| Performance decrease time (E-core) | PERFDECTIME1 | d8edeb9b-95cf-4f95-a73c-b061973693c9 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Performance time check interval | PERFCHECK | 4d2b0152-7d5c-498b-88e2-34345392a2c5 | Interval in ms for evaluating performance state changes |
| Performance history count | PERFHISTORY | 7d24baa7-0b84-480f-840c-1b0743c00f5f | Number of history samples used in frequency scaling decisions |
| Performance history count (E-core) | PERFHISTORY1 | 7d24baa7-0b84-480f-840c-1b0743c00f60 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Processor duty cycling | PERFDUTYCYCLING | 4e4450b3-6179-4e91-b8f1-5bb9938f81a1 | Whether the CPU uses duty cycling to reduce power at low P-states |
Autonomous / Hardware P-State (HWP / AMD CPPC2)
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor performance autonomous mode | PERFAUTONOMOUS | 8baa4a8a-14c6-4451-8e8b-14bdbd197537 | Enables hardware-autonomous P-state selection (HWP/CPPC2), bypassing OS frequency control |
| Processor autonomous activity window | PERFAUTONOMOUSWINDOW | cfeda3d0-7697-4566-a922-a9086cd49dfa | Activity window duration in microseconds for autonomous mode decisions |
| Energy Performance Preference (EPP) | PERFEPP | 36687f9e-e3a5-4dbf-b1dc-15eb381c6863 | Hardware EPP hint: 0 = maximum performance, 100 = maximum efficiency. Used by Intel SpeedShift and AMD CPPC2 |
| Energy Performance Preference (EPP) (E-core) | PERFEPP1 | 36687f9e-e3a5-4dbf-b1dc-15eb381c6864 | EPP hint for efficiency cores |
Core Parking
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core parking min cores | CPMINCORES | 0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583 | Minimum percentage of cores that must remain unparked |
| Core parking min cores (E-core) | CPMINCORES1 | 0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318584 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Core parking max cores | CPMAXCORES | ea062031-0e34-4ff1-9b6d-eb1059334028 | Maximum percentage of cores allowed to be unparked |
| Core parking max cores (E-core) | CPMAXCORES1 | ea062031-0e34-4ff1-9b6d-eb1059334029 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Core parking increase time | CPINCREASETIME | 2ddd5a84-5a71-437e-912a-db0b8c788732 | Time in ms before additional cores are unparked |
| Core parking decrease time | CPDECREASETIME | dfd10d17-d5eb-45dd-877a-9a34ddd15c82 | Time in ms before cores are re-parked |
| Core parking increase policy | CPINCREASEPOL | c7be0679-2817-4d69-9d02-519a537ed0c6 | Policy for unparking additional cores |
| Core parking decrease policy | CPDECREASEPOL | 71021b41-c749-4d21-be74-a00f335d582b | Policy for re-parking cores |
| Core parking distribution threshold | CPDISTRIBUTION | 4bdaf4e9-d103-46d7-a5f0-6280121616ef | Threshold for distributing load across cores before unparking additional ones |
| Core parking concurrency threshold | CPCONCURRENCY | 2430ab6f-a520-44a2-9601-f7f23b5134b1 | Concurrency level required to trigger additional core unparking |
| Core parking headroom threshold | CPHEADROOM | f735a673-2066-4f80-a0c5-ddee0cf1bf5d | Performance headroom % required before parking a core |
| Core parking over-utilization threshold | CPOVERUTIL | 943c8cb6-6f93-4227-ad87-e9a3feec08d1 | Over-utilization threshold that triggers immediate core unparking |
| Core parking performance state | CPPERF | 447235c7-6a8d-4cc0-8e24-9eaf70b96e2b | Performance state applied to parked cores |
| Core parking performance state (E-core) | CPPERF1 | 447235c7-6a8d-4cc0-8e24-9eaf70b96e2c | Same for efficiency cores |
| Distribute utility (load distribution) | DISTRIBUTEUTIL | e0007330-f589-42ed-a401-5ddb10e785d3 | Whether utility load is distributed across all available cores |
Processor Idle States (C-States)
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor idle disable | IDLEDISABLE | 5d76a2ca-e8c0-402f-a133-2158492d58ad | Disables all C-states; CPU stays in C0 (active) at all times |
| Processor idle time check | IDLECHECK | c4581c31-89ab-4597-8e2b-9c9cab440e6b | Time in ms to evaluate idle state eligibility |
| Processor idle promote threshold | IDLEPROMOTE | 7b224883-b3cc-4d79-819f-8374152cbe7c | % idle time required to transition to a deeper C-state |
| Processor idle demote threshold | IDLEDEMOTE | 4b92d758-5a24-4851-a470-815d78aee119 | % idle time below which the CPU exits a deep C-state |
| Processor idle state maximum | IDLESTATEMAX | 9943e905-9a30-4ec1-9b99-44dd3b76f7a2 | Maximum C-state depth allowed |
| Processor idle threshold scaling | IDLESCALING | 6c2993b0-8f48-481f-bcc6-00dd2742aa06 | Whether idle thresholds scale with processor performance level |
Latency Sensitivity
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latency hint min performance state | LATENCYHINTPERF | 619b7505-003b-4e82-b7a6-4dd29c300971 | Minimum performance % applied when a latency sensitivity hint is active |
| Latency hint min performance state (E-core) | LATENCYHINTPERF1 | 619b7505-003b-4e82-b7a6-4dd29c300972 | Same for efficiency cores |
| Latency hint processor unpark % | LATENCYHINTUNPARK | 616cdaa5-695e-4545-97ad-97dc2d1bdd88 | % of cores to unpark when a latency sensitivity hint is received |
| Latency hint processor unpark % (E-core) | LATENCYHINTUNPARK1 | 616cdaa5-695e-4545-97ad-97dc2d1bdd89 | Same for efficiency cores |
System Cooling
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System cooling policy | SYSCOOLPOL | 94d3a615-a899-4ac5-ae2b-e4d8f634367f | 0=Passive, 1=Active | Active: increase fan speed first; Passive: throttle CPU first |
Heterogeneous Scheduling (Hybrid CPUs)
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor heterogeneous policy | HETEROPOLICY | 7f2f5cfa-f10c-4823-b5e1-e93ae85f46b5 | Thread scheduling policy across P-core and E-core types |
| Hetero increase threshold | HETEROINCREASETHRESHOLD | b000397d-9b0b-483d-98c9-692a6060cfbf | Load threshold above which threads are migrated to P-cores |
| Hetero decrease threshold | HETERODECREASETHRESHOLD | f8861c27-95e7-475c-865b-13c0cb3f9d6b | Load threshold below which threads are migrated to E-cores |
| Hetero increase time | HETEROINCREASETIME | 4009efa7-e72d-4cba-9edf-91084ea8cbc3 | Duration required before migrating threads to higher-class cores |
| Hetero decrease time | HETERODECREASETIME | 7f2492b6-60b1-45e5-ae55-773f8cd5caec | Duration required before migrating threads to lower-class cores |
| Class 1 initial performance | HETEROCLASS1INITIALPERF | 1facfc65-a930-4bc5-9f38-504ec097bbc0 | Initial performance floor when threads first land on E-cores |
| Class 0 floor performance | HETEROCLASS0FLOORPERF | fddc842b-8364-4edc-94cf-c17f60de1c80 | Minimum performance floor for P-cores |
| Short thread scheduling policy | SHORTSCHEDPOLICY | bae08b81-2d5e-4688-ad6a-13243356654b | Scheduling policy for short-running threads across core classes |
| Heterogeneous thread scheduling policy | SCHEDPOLICY | 93b8b6dc-0698-4d1c-9ee4-0644e900c85d | Overall scheduler policy for heterogeneous architectures |
| Short thread architecture upper limit | — | 828423eb-8662-4344-90f7-52bf15870f5a | Maximum architecture class allowed for short-running threads |
Miscellaneous PPM
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor throttling | THROTTLING | 3b04d4fd-1cc7-4f23-ab1c-d1337819c4bb | Whether software-based CPU throttling is permitted |
Graphics
5fb4938d-1ee8-4b0f-9a3c-5036b0ab995c
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPU preference policy | GPUPREFERENCEPOLICY | dd848b2a-8a5d-4451-9ae2-39cd41658f6c | Whether apps prefer integrated or discrete GPU; governs switchable graphics behavior |
| Intel Graphics Power Plan | — | 3619c3f2-afb2-4afc-b0e9-e7fef372de36 | Intel-specific GPU power plan selection (under Intel Graphics subgroup 44f3beca…) |
Display (Video)
7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn off display after | VIDEOIDLE | 3c0bc021-c8a8-4e07-a973-6b14cbcb2b7e | Idle time in seconds before the display is powered off |
| Dim display after | VIDEODIM | 17aaa29b-8b43-4b94-aafe-35f64daaf1ee | Idle time in seconds before the display is dimmed |
| Display brightness | VIDEONORMALLEVEL | aded5e82-b909-4619-9949-f5d71dac0bcb | Display brightness percentage (0–100%) |
| Dimmed display brightness | VIDEODIMLEVEL | f1fbfde2-a960-4165-9f88-50667911ce96 | Display brightness when dimmed (0–100%) |
| Adaptive display | VIDEOADAPT | 90959d22-d6a1-49b9-af93-bce885ad335b | Whether Windows extends display timeout based on recent user activity patterns |
| Adaptive brightness (sensor) | ADAPTBRIGHT | fbd9aa66-9553-4097-ba44-ed6e9d65eab8 | Whether display brightness adjusts automatically based on ambient light sensor |
| Console lock display off timeout | VIDEOCONLOCK | 8ec4b3a5-6868-48c2-be75-4f3044be88a7 | Seconds before display turns off after the screen is locked |
| Allow display required policy | ALLOWDISPLAY | a9ceb8da-cd46-44fb-a98b-02af69de4623 | Whether applications can prevent the display from turning off |
| Advanced Color quality bias | ADVANCEDCOLORQUALITYBIAS | 684c3e69-a4f7-4014-8754-d45179a56167 | Bias between color quality and power savings for HDR / Advanced Color displays |
Presence Aware Power Behavior
8619b916-e004-4dd8-9b66-dae86f806698
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human Presence Sensor Adaptive Display Timeout | HUPRVIDEOIDLE | — | Display timeout when presence sensor detects no user is present |
| Human Presence Sensor Adaptive Dim Timeout | HUPRVIDEODIM | — | Dim timeout when presence sensor detects no user is present |
| Non-sensor Input Presence Timeout | NSENINPUTPRETIME | 5adbbfbc-074e-4da1-ba38-db8b36b2c8f3 | Timeout for input-based presence detection when no sensor is available |
| User Presence Prediction mode | USERPRESENCEPREDICTION | 82011705-fb95-4d46-8d35-4042b1d20def | Whether Windows predicts user return to defer display off |
| Standby Budget Percent | STANDBYBUDGETPERCENT | 9fe527be-1b70-48da-930d-7bcf17b44990 | Battery % allowed to be consumed during standby before forcing a wake |
| Standby Budget Grace Period | STANDBYBUDGETGRACEPERIOD | 60c07fe1-0556-45cf-9903-d56e32210242 | Grace period in seconds after screen off before budget enforcement begins |
| Standby Reserve Time | STANDBYRESERVETIME | 468fe7e5-1158-46ec-88bc-5b96c9e44fd0 | Reserved standby time in seconds before draining budget |
| Standby Reserve Grace Period | STANDBYRESERVEGRACEPERIOD | c763ee92-71e8-4127-84eb-f6ed043a3e3d | Grace period before standby reserve enforcement begins |
| Standby Reset Percentage | STANDBYRESETPERCENT | 49cb11a5-56e2-4afb-9d38-3df47872e21b | Battery % at which standby budget is reset |
Multimedia Settings
9596fb26-9850-41fd-ac3e-f7c3c00afd4b
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| When sharing media | — | 03680956-93bc-4294-bba6-4e0f09bb717f | Power behavior when media is being shared (prevent idle or allow idle) |
| Video playback quality bias | — | 10778347-1370-4ee0-8bbd-33bdacaade49 | Whether to bias toward video quality or power savings during playback |
| When playing video | — | 34c7b99f-9a6d-4b3c-8dc7-b6693b78cef4 | Power behavior during active video playback (optimize quality, balanced, optimize power) |
Energy Saver
de830923-a562-41af-a086-e3a2c6bad2da
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Saver Policy | ESPOLICY | 5c5bb349-ad29-4ee2-9d0b-2b25270f7a81 | How aggressively Energy Saver adjusts settings: Optimized vs. Aggressive |
| Display brightness weight | ESBRIGHTNESS | 13d09884-f74e-474a-a852-b6bde8ad03a8 | How much Energy Saver reduces display brightness (0–100%) |
| Charge level threshold | ESBATTTHRESHOLD | e69653ca-cf7f-4f05-aa73-cb833fa90ad4 | Battery % at which Energy Saver automatically activates |
Battery
e73a048d-bf27-4f12-9731-8b2076e8891f
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low battery level | BATLEVELLOW | 8183ba9a-e910-48da-8769-14ae6dc1170a | Battery % considered "low" — triggers low battery notification |
| Critical battery level | BATLEVELCRIT | 9a66d8d7-4ff7-4ef9-b5a2-5a326ca2a469 | Battery % considered "critical" — triggers critical action |
| Low battery notification | BATFLAGSLOW | bcded951-187b-4d05-bccc-f7e51960c258 | Whether a notification appears at low battery level |
| Critical battery notification | BATFLAGSCRIT | 5dbb7c9f-38e9-40d2-9749-4f8a0e9f640f | Whether a notification appears at critical battery level |
| Low battery action | BATACTIONLOW | d8742dcb-3e6a-4b3c-b3fe-374623cdcf06 | Action at low battery: Do Nothing, Sleep, Hibernate, Shut Down |
| Critical battery action | BATACTIONCRIT | 637ea02f-bbcb-4015-8e2c-a1c7b9c0b546 | Action at critical battery: typically Hibernate or Shut Down |
Interrupt Steering
48672f38-7a9a-4bb2-8bf8-3d85be19de4e
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interrupt Steering Mode | MODE | 2bfc24f9-5ea2-4801-8213-3dbae01aa39d | How hardware interrupts are steered across processor cores (Off, Fixed, Spreading, Adaptive) |
| Target Load | PERPROCLOAD | 73cde64d-d720-4bb2-a860-c755afe77ef2 | Target processor load % for interrupt steering decisions |
| Unparked time trigger | UNPARKTIME | d6ba4903-386f-4c2c-8adb-5c21b3328d25 | Time a core must be unparked before it starts receiving interrupts |
Internet Explorer (Legacy)
02f815b5-a5cf-4c84-bf20-649d1f75d3d8
| Setting | Alias | GUID | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| JavaScript Timer Frequency | — | 4c793e7d-a264-42e1-87d3-7a0d2f523ccd | Whether JavaScript timers are throttled to save power: Normal, Maximum Power Savings |
Quick Reference: powercfg Commands
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
powercfg /list | List all power plans and their GUIDs |
powercfg /query | Query all settings for the active plan |
powercfg /qh | Query all settings including hidden ones |
powercfg /aliases | List all public GUID aliases |
powercfg /aliasesh | List all aliases including hidden ones |
powercfg /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT <subgroup> <setting> <value> | Set a setting value for AC (plugged-in) |
powercfg /setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT <subgroup> <setting> <value> | Set a setting value for DC (battery) |
powercfg /setactive SCHEME_BALANCED | Activate the Balanced plan |
powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61 | Unlock Ultimate Performance plan |
powercfg -restoredefaultschemes | Restore all built-in default plans |
powercfg /energy | Generate an energy efficiency report |
powercfg /batteryreport | Generate a battery health report |